Roe on hand as Trump signs VA MISSION Act into law

Representative Phil Roe (right) attended a ceremony at the White House as President Donald Trump signed the VA MISSION Act into law. CONTRIBUTED

Congressman Phil Roe was on hand last week for a ceremony at the White House as President Donald Trump signed a piece of his legislation – the VA MISSION Act – into law.

As the chairman of the House Committee on Veteran’s Affairs, Roe has been heavily involved in efforts to better care for the medical needs of veterans.

“For the last year and a half, I’ve been working tirelessly with the president, members of the Trump administration and my colleagues in the House and Senate to move bipartisan reforms through Congress that will deliver on the promises we’ve made to our nation’s heroes,” Roe said in a statement. “Together, we’ve been able to modernize the appeals process, bring true accountability to the Department of Veterans Affairs and give student veterans the largest expansion of GI Bill benefits since the GI Bill was created.”

The VA MISSION (Maintaining Internal Systems and Strengthening Integrated Outside Networks) Act includes three pieces of legislation that have been considered by either the House or Senate Committees on Veterans’ Affairs. The bill is designed to streamline the department’s duplicative community care programs into one cohesive program, create a non-partisan process for reviewing VA’s assets to ensure veterans can access the care they have earned and expand the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Post-9/11 Caregiver Program to all eras.

The bill also includes funding for the Choice Program that is expected to last until the new program authorized under the VA MISSION Act is implemented.